The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it hopes that Taiwanese celebrities who reposted Chinese state media articles celebrating the National Day of the People’s Republic of China would consider public perceptions in Taiwan.
Yesterday, China’s National Day, several Taiwanese celebrities reposted articles from Chinese state media on their personal Sina Weibo profiles about the holiday, including Golden Horse Award-winning actor Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁), Cyndi Wang (王心凌), Ouyang Didi (歐陽娣娣), Wang Leehom (王力宏) and others.
Artist Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) on Monday night performed in a National Day program on China Central Television, with the state media channel calling him an artist from “Taiwan, China.”
Photo: Tapei Times file and screen grab from Sina Weibo
Wu, who on Monday announced he had signed to a new Chinese management company, yesterday reposted a message from the state-run People’s Daily on his Sina Weibo account, adding: “Congratulations to Beautiful China.”
The MAC said in a statement that although entertainers and celebrities might feel pressure from the Chinese Communist Party to make political statements around holidays, it hoped that they would consider public sentiment in Taiwan and appreciate the nation’s hard-won democratic freedoms.
Separately, the council yesterday again asked Taiwanese to be cautious when traveling to China, Hong Kong or Macau, after two people were sentenced to prison under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
Hong Konger Chiu Kai-pong (諸啟邦), 27, was sentenced to 14 months on Sept. 16 for “performing acts with seditious intent” for wearing a T-shirt with the words “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and a yellow mask with the letters “FDNOL,” short for “five demands, not one less” on June 12, the anniversary of clashes between police and protesters during 2019’s democracy protests.
Chung Man-kit (鍾文傑), 29, was sentenced to 10 months for writing “seditious” graffiti on bus seats.
The MAC said it wished to remind Taiwanese that as of June, a travel advisory for China, Hong Kong and Macau was elevated to “orange,” its second-highest alert.
The council’s Web site has up-to-date information on what might be considered a crime that could lead to prosecution in China, as well as other travel advisories, it said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS